Essay On Speech Pathology

I have always found it a challenge to distinguish myself among my extended family along with balancing the expected social expectations of women in Hispanic families. My extended family is comprised mostly of individuals like my parents who could not afford an education in their native Mexico. As the daughter of immigrants, it was expected of me to pursue higher education while also supporting my family in any way I could, whether it was through assisting them with my younger siblings or helping my parents financially. With a multitude of responsibilities and expectations on my shoulders, a “safe” career was always the intended goal.
When I switched gears in my sophomore year of college to pursue Speech Pathology in lieu of Nursing, it was to the disappointment of my family. Speech pathology was seen as a risky career to pursue. There were no guarantees that I would be able to find a position in my field with only a Bachelors degree. There were no guarantees I would be admitted to graduate school to obtain a Masters or afford the exorbitant costs that came with a graduate education. After all, my family could barely manage to cover my expenses in undergraduate
It was my intention that upon graduation, I would seek employment in the field to determine whether I wanted to pursue a master’s degree. As a SLPA, I am fortunate to have worked with a team of brilliant speech-language pathologists and a diverse group of students. Working in the public school system for Title I schools has cemented my drive to pursue graduate school. It is my intention to graduate and work in schools in diverse communities. For this reason, I applied to San Jose as SJSU’s Communicative Disorders program has a focus on diverse populations through programs like Project Tapestry. Given my Spanish language skills, I would hope to become qualified to work as a bilingual speech-language